What did Ulysses S. Grant do in the US Civil War and why did he quit the union army?

Answer 1

What did Ulysses s grant do in the civil war? 'Cause although General Grant was reported to be a small man, in actuality he was five feet, eight inches tall. This was above average for the mid-nineteenth century man who was about five feet, seven inches. General Grant did not start life as a small baby, however, weighing ten and three quarters pounds at birth.

Unlike many of his predecessors who were born in log cabins, Hiram Ulysses Grant was born in a small frame cottage along the banks of the Ohio River in a small village named Point Pleasant, to a leather tanner, Jesse Grant and his wife Hannah Simpson Grant on April 27, 1822. Although named Hiram, his family called him by his middle name Ulysses, or Lyss for short.

At the age of seven, young Ulysses nearly drowned while fishing in White Oak Creek, near his home in Georgetown, Ohio. His friend and fishing partner, nine year old Daniel Ammen, reached down and pulled him to safety after a thorough dunking.

At nine years of age young Ulysses was so adept at breaking horses to pace that many farmers in the region came to him for assistance in training their animals. His intense love for horses continued throughout his life. He set a high jump record at West Point that lasted for more than twenty-five years.

Upon graduation, Grant had no intention of keeping the military as his career and planned instead on being a professor of mathematics.

While serving in the Mexican War, under Generals Taylor and Scott, Grant was in every battle except Buena Vista. Grant was twice breveted for bravery and gallantry for services at Molino del Rey and Chapultepec.

On August 22, 1848, Grant married Julia Dent from St. Louis, whose family held slaves. Grant himself owned a slave named William Jones, acquired from his father-in-law. At a time when he could have desperately used the money from the sale of Jones, Grant signed a document that gave him his freedom.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Grant was working in his father's leather store in Galena, Illinois. The rise from clerk to General of the Armies, to President of the United States in seven years, was an unprecedented feat of accomplishment.

On casting his first vote for president in 1856, Grant, the future republican president, voted for James Buchanan, a democrat. His explanation being that "I didn't know him and voted against Fremont because I did know him."

Grant's life in Galena was not as drab and poverty stricken as reported. He and his family lived in a seven-room house high on a hill in the best neighborhood in town. Julia had a servant, and did none of the housework herself.

Ironically, although Grant had fifteen years in the regular military, his initial offer to serve in the Civil War was overlooked by the War Department. His letter was not found until after the war was over.

Grant was very thin during the war, weighing only one hundred and thirty-five pounds. He was a very sparse eater. He abhorred red meat of any kind, and the sight of blood made him ill. Consequently, he insisted on his meat being cooked on the verge of being charred. He would not eat any kind of fowl, but was fond of pork and beans, fruit, and buckwheat cakes.

Grant was tone deaf and could not recognize any of the light airs of the time; military music was especially annoying to him.

Reticence has long been associated with Ulysses Grant. Although he was an avid listener, in the relaxed company of friends, he could actually be a raconteur.

Throughout his life General Grant had a superstition of retracing his steps. Throughout the war, this superstition turned into an asset in leading troops in battle.

in the heat of battle, when his staff officers were full of anxiety, Grant calmly smoked his cigar and never lost his composure. His nerves of steel were a wonder to all around him. He could write dispatches while shells burst around him and never flinch.

Since boyhood, General Grant had an aversion to any kind of profanity, noting that it was a waste of time. No off color stories were allowed to be told in his presence.

Grant did not believe in holding formal councils of war. He felt that they "divided a responsibility that would at times prevent a unity of action." He listened to the advice of his staff, and then, upon reflection, made the final decision himself. No one knew of his decision until it was put into effect.

During his lifetime General Grant suffered intense migraine headaches which were sometimes reported as bouts of drunkenness.

Before the Battle of Fort Donelson, Grant was a light smoker. During the battle a reporter spotted him holding an unlit cigar given him by Admiral Foote, and soon ten thousand cigars were sent to him in camp. Although giving away as many as he could, he started the habit of cigar smoking that became one of his trademarks.

During the War, General Grant wrote most of his own dispatches. His style was clear and concise and no one ever had to be told twice what his wishes were.

Ulysses Grant was a devoted family man and had his family with him whenever he could during the War. His oldest son Fred was with his father often. During the Battle of Black River Bridge, thirteen year old Fred was wounded when a musket ball struck him in the left thigh.

On the day Lincoln was assassinated, Grant's wife Julia was stalked by John Wilkes Booth. If the general had accepted the invitation to go to Ford's Theater with the presidential party, there may have been a double tragedy. They went instead to Burlington, New Jersey, to see their children.

Sorry if it was boring but there is more! Ulysses S. Grant was born on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio. Ulysses' parents were Jesse, a well known tanner, and Hannah, a shy deeply religious woman. Ulysses was the oldest of the Grant's six children

At age five, Ulysses began his schooling in a small one room school, which his parents had to pay a small sum for him to attend. His classroom had up to forty students all ranging from age five to age twenty. Ulysses was an average student whose only talent seemed to be arithmetic. Education was very important for Ulysses' father, who when Ulysses was fifteen, sent him to a private boarding school. This was possibly to prepare him for West Point.

Ulysses always seemed to have a way with horses, when he was only five he was riding on their backs on his own, and could be seen practicing standing on his horses back like some sort of circus act. And Ulysses got his chance when a one ring circus came to town, and the ringmaster asked "Is there anyone here brave enough to dare ride this pony?" Ulysses rode the horse making it look easy and earned five dollars in doing so. By the time Ulysses was nine he was called upon to break in people's horses and to teach then to pace. When Ulysses was ten he worked for his dad in the stalling business, and was considered one of the better teenage workers in the county.

Ulysses S. Grant arrived at West Point on May 29, 1839, a 17 year old youth who had been coaxed by his father into attending the academy. His record in the following four years was not very good, and he graduated in 1843, 21st in a class of 39 cadets. In later years, he had harsh feelings toward the institution, and when he spoke of it, it was generally without enthusiasm. The endless drilling, regimented lifestyle and spartan routine had not appealed to him, though he thought it the best school in the world for turning out "manly characters."

The Mexican War began while Grant was serving as a second lieutenant with his regiment in Texas in 1846. He first fought under the command of General Zachary Taylor, and later under General Winfield Scott, which he also served t West Point. He fought in every battle of the war except Buena Vista, and was twice promoted in the field because of his bravery and gallantry, and ended the war as a captain by brevet. Despite the recognition gained from his superiors, Grant was without enthusiasm for the war. He said afterward that the war was, "one of the most unjust wars ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory." When the war ended he was granted a leave of absence and he returned to St. Louis to marry Julia Dent.

On June 17, 1861, Grant was appointed colonel of the 21st Illinois Regiment of Infantry, and went with it to Palmyra, Missouri. On August 7, 1861, he was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers upon the insistence of Elihu B. Washburne. Lincoln made the appointment without much expectation that Grant would do anything notable. The commission was dated back to May 17, 1861. Grant almost immediately rolled up a string of victories including Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee, taking prisoner more than 20,000 Confederate troops. After that he was promptly promoted to major general. General Grant set out at once to capture the powerful Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, which was protected by nearly impenetrable geographic barriers in the form of bayous, swamps, and its own towering Mississippi River bluffs. He set his men to digging canals in an effort to divert the river and therefore weaken the city's defenses. Vicksburg surrendered unconditionally on July 4, 1863, and Grant was hailed throughout the North. He was then given command of all the Western armies, and was called to Washington by President Lincoln in March 1864, Grant was given the highest rank in the Army, lieutenant general, and placed in command of all the armies in the field. He at once planned the final campaign against the Confederacy, assigning William T. Sherman to the Western armies and establishing his own headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. Sherman's mission was to invade the heart of the Confederacy, capture Atlanta, and bring devastation to Georgia. While Sherman was carrying out his orders to the letter, Grant turned his personal attention to the South's main army, commanded by another of his West Point classmates, Robert E. Lee. Ignoring criticism for heavy losses, Grant boldly attacked Lee and pushed him rapidly back into the fortifications of Richmond. Through the winter of 1864-65 Grant applied unremitting pressure. On April 2, 1865, Lee was forced to abandon Richmond and retreat west. One week later the end came at Appomattox Court House.

Grant had entered the Presidency in 1869 as a national hero. Believing that he had finally found the success he had searched so hard for all his life, he quickly found himself lost in the chaos of politics. When he left office in 1877, he was a tired and dejected man, hurt and disappointed at having been manipulated by men he had known and trusted.

The first symptoms of his throat trouble occurred at his Long Branch, New Jersey summer home in the summer of 1884. Julia recalled, "There was a plate of delicious peaches on the table, of which the General was very fond. Helping himself, he proceeded to eat the dainty morsel; then he started up as if in great pain and exclaimed, 'Oh my. I think something has stung me from that peach.'" But it was not an insect, it was the beginning of the cancer that was to kill him in less than a year. Tragically, Grant thought the malady a trifling one and did not seek medical assistance for months. He innocently thought the pain would vanish in time, but it only became more acute. By the time he did go to a throat specialist, it was too late and the throat cancerhad entrenched itself. Grant's indomitable courage is best exemplified during these final months of his life. He endures agonizing pain without a murmur and faces death with a courage that is humbling. Then at 8:00 A.M. on July 23, 1885, at the age of sixty-five, General Ulysses Simpson Grant dies while surrounded by his friends family and relatives.

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